At 1:13pm Saturday, the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call from an 18-year-old male who reported that he and his 21-year-old brother had been attacked by a mountain lion in a remote area of Darling Ridge Rd. and Skid Rd., Georgetown, CA.
The reporting party suffered traumatic injuries to his face and was separated from his brother during the attack. At 1:34pm EDSO Deputies and Paramedics arrived in the area, located the reporting party and began to administer aid to him. Additional Deputies began the search for the unaccounted brother.
At around 1:46pm Deputies observed a crouched mountain lion next to a subject on the ground. The mountain lion was between the Deputies and the subject on the ground. Deputies discharged their firearms scaring the mountain lion off so they could render aid. Unfortunately, the male subject was deceased.
Wardens and Trappers from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife along with the El Dorado County Trapper responded to the area, located the mountain lion, and dispatched it.
Sheriff UPDATE
Verified Mountain Lion-Human Attacks
The CDFW defines a mountain lion attack as an incident resulting in direct physical contact between a human and a mountain lion resulting in physical injury or death to the person. An attack is verified only when a physician, law enforcement officer or CDFW personnel determine the injuries were caused by a mountain lion. Incidents reported as attacks that do not fit the criteria of verifiable attacks on humans are not included in the list below.
| Date | Type | Attack Location | County | Victim Sex | Victim Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 1986 | Nonfatal | Caspers Wilderness Park | Orange | Female | 5 yrs. |
| Oct. 1986 | Nonfatal | Caspers Wilderness Park | Orange | Male | 6 yrs. |
| March 1992 | Nonfatal | Gaviota State Park | Santa Barbara | Male | 9 yrs. |
| Sept. 1993 | Nonfatal | Cuyamaca State Park | San Diego | Female | 10 yrs. |
| Apr. 1994 | Fatal | Auburn State Recreation Area | El Dorado | Female | 40 yrs. |
| Aug. 1994 | Nonfatal | Mendocino County (remote) | Mendocino | Male | 48 yrs. |
| Nonfatal | Female | 48 yrs. | |||
| Dec. 1994 | Fatal | Cuyamaca State Park | San Diego | Female | 56 yrs. |
| Mar. 1995 | Nonfatal | Mt. Lowe (San Gabriel Mtns.) | Los Angeles | Male | 27 yrs. |
| Jan. 2004 | Fatal | Whiting Ranch Regional Park | Orange | Male | 35 yrs. |
| Jan. 2004 | Nonfatal | Whiting Ranch Regional Park | Orange | Female | 30 yrs. |
| June 2004 | Nonfatal | Sequoia National Forest | Tulare | Female | 28 yrs. |
| Jan. 2007 | Nonfatal | Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park | Humboldt | Male | 70 yrs. |
| Jul. 2012 | Nonfatal | Confluence of Shady Creek and Yuba River | Nevada | Male | 63 yrs. |
| Sept. 2014 | Nonfatal | Cupertino | Santa Clara | Male | 6 yrs. |
| May 2019 | Nonfatal | Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve | San Diego | Male | 4 yrs. |
| January 2020 | Nonfatal | Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park | Orange | Male | 3 yrs. |
| February 2020 | Nonfatal | Rancho San Antonio County Park | Santa Clara | Female | 6 yrs. |
| June 2020 | Nonfatal | Blue Sky Ecological Reserve | San Diego | Male | 4 yrs. |
| August 2021 | Nonfatal | Calabasas (Santa Monica Mtns.) | Los Angeles | Male | 5 yrs. |
| May 2022 | Nonfatal | Big Bar (Trinity River) | Trinity | Female | 24 yrs. |
| Sept. 2022 | Nonfatal | Pico Canyon Park | Los Angeles | Male | 7 yrs. |
Note: According to historical reports, four fatal incidents involving six victims occurred around the turn of the previous century
